Irvine group gets City National Bank grant

City National Bank on July 1 donated $1,000 to 15 charitable organizations as part of its 60th anniversary celebration.

To commemorate the milestone, City National is awarding community grants to nonprofit groups on behalf of bank colleagues for their volunteer outreach each quarter. By the end of the year, the bank will have awarded 60 community grants totaling $60,000 to nonprofits in five states.

“City National colleagues are doing some amazing work with nonprofit groups and charitable causes in the communities where we do business,” said Jennifer Nickerson, vice president and community relations manager for City National. “We want to recognize that volunteer work by awarding these community grants to the organizations they donate so much of their time and energy to on an ongoing basis.”

Charities are nominated by bank colleagues who have worked with or are involved in the organizations. The nomination is then considered by a panel of bank officials who consider important questions like “How involved is the bank colleague in the organization? What is the impact that the organization has on the constituents it serves?” said bank spokesperson Paul Stowell.

A few of the winning California charities are United Cerebral Palsy of Orange County in Irvine, Children Sure House Foundation in Winnetka, and Foshay High School in Los Angeles.

“I think this program, along with all other community outreach programs that City National does reinforces our tagline, which is The Way Up. We like to say City National is not only “the way up” for its clients, but also the community it serves,” said Stowell.

There are more than 3,600 City National colleagues who are eligible to submit nominations on behalf of the community-based organizations they are affiliated with through volunteer outreach.

Only halfway through the $60,000 total, City National is still accepting nominations for its third quarter of grants.